Golf course architect Richard Mandell, 45, of Pinehurst, N.C., was hired by Ramsey County to renovate Keller Golf Course in Maplewood, Minn. Here, Mandell stands on Keller’s 18th tee. Mandell essentially lifted the entire hole, moved it closer to the new clubhouse, and reconstructed it with the same dimensions.
(Pioneer Press Dave Orrick)

The task of redesigning — or resurrecting — Keller Golf Course fell to Richard Mandell, a Pinehurst, N.C.-based golf architect whose golf-design philosophy includes this statement: “The character of each individual landscape is the driving force.”

With a budget of $4.1 million, Mandell’s charge was to create a top-notch public golf course with a continuity of design — as well as modern drainage, irrigation and environmental stewardship — that was still true to the 1929 design of Ramsey County engineer Paul Coates.

Mandell consulted historical records and met with the course’s most loyal devotees in an effort to glean the essence of the course.

Here’s the result, hole by hole, in Mandell’s words:

“Generally speaking, there are choice sides for each fairway off the tee in order to approach most golf holes. If one chooses to play the angles, the sacrifice is in also choosing the longer route. The shorter route at Keller will almost always result in an awkward approach to a putting surface. To me, this is quintessential strategic design: There is never one clear-cut choice, as each option comes with some level of sacrifice.

“Utilizing an aerial photograph from 1940, I was able to recapture the shapes and sizes of the original greens. The haphazard bunkering from that era allowed me some freedom to incorporate some strategic rhythm into the design without sacrificing the character of the golf course.”

As outdoors editor for the Pioneer Press, Orrick fishes, paddles, hunts, skis and romps across the region while staying on top of outdoors news. When the occasion demands, he's also been known to cover topics ranging from politics to golf. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and son.​

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